


Between The Lines

by revenantforces



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Angst, Dyslexia, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Protective Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:40:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,148
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27707054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/revenantforces/pseuds/revenantforces
Summary: Bobby hands out some paperwork for the entire crew to read and sign, but some harmless teasing ends up bothering Buck so badly that Eddie has to go find out why.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 31
Kudos: 507





	Between The Lines

**Author's Note:**

> I am not at all good with cuteness/fluff/feelings so I tried real hard on this. This fic has been in the works for a long time because of that obstacle! If you're reading, thank you so much! If you like it, thank you so much! If you don't like it, thanks for at least checking it out! I don't know anything about Dyslexia so I'm sorry if this is unrealistic. I didn't really reread over this too much after I picked it back up and initially reread it, so I'm sorry if there's a few mistakes here or there.
> 
> I appreciate every kudo and comment! If you enjoy my writing that helps me write more, and I am grateful for the love.

“Okay everyone, I know it’s been a while since we’ve done this, but it’s gotta get done, so let’s get it over with,” Bobby started as he handed out stapled paperwork to each member of the firehouse team sat around the kitchen tables upstairs while they briefed about new safety regulations and measures taken to ensure that no action could be taken against the city in the event that somebody did, in fact, get hurt. Thanks to Buck’s lawsuit, there seemed to be an extra tree included with this year’s literature.

It was a fairly thick stack of documents and forms to sign stating that they understood the risks of being a civil servant and the threats it brought against mortality, vitality, and mental stability. It all seemed pretty elementary to Eddie as he read it over, but he noticed uncomfortable wavelengths coming from the chair beside him as Buck stewed in his seat. The room was so eerily quiet they could’ve heard an ant take a breath as everyone rallied to get through their stack. It was clear that nobody was enjoying having to read their given packets, but Buck seemed more frustrated than that.

“What’s wrong, Buckaroo? Too many big words for ya?” Chimney prodded, earning a scrunched nose from Hen and a pursed-lipped smirk from Bobby, echoed by several snide chortles around the room.

“Need some help with that?” he asked after a pause, but it was inconclusive whether or not it was mockery or actual care.

Buck looked across the table at Chimney from over top of the papers he held in his hand and he feigned a smile as he straightened the sheets in his tightened fingers.

“I got it, thanks,” he replied stiffly. Buck wasn’t usually one to take it so hard when the other members of the 118 made fun of him, even after awkwardness of litigation kind of split them apart. However, this time Eddie could tell he was actually pretty bothered.

“You sure? Cuz you seem like you’re really struggling there,” Lewis chimed in.

“You guys, leave him alone. How could he have known that such a physical job would still include using your brain sometimes?” Hen jested in stride and the table laughed.

“These are legal documents, he should be a pro at this by now,” Martinez interjected.

Eddie slid his hand up his partner’s thigh underneath the table and squeezed just firm enough to ground him and Buck exhaled and returned his attention to his assignment as they chuckled around the room. He had always been pretty good at decoding him, but since they’d begun having sex their intimacy had reached a new high. Eddie could tell that Buck wasn’t feeling the lightheartedness everyone else was as he narrowed his eyes and kept his head ducked below cover of the handbook he’d been given. After forty-five minutes had passed and most people had signed every form and put their reams down, Eddie looked beside him to see Buck blankly gazing at the table with his forms laid flat on top and the pen he’d used to notarize them neatly in the middle.

As soon as they’d finished and Bobby began to collect all the packets, the couches and chairs filled up and the television went on as their Captain switched gears to start prep for their evening meal. They’d been on call for a 24-hour shift, so Eddie didn’t at first find it too concerning when Buck told him he was going to go lie down and started to head to the dorms instead of staying upstairs with everyone else to hang out until their food was ready or a call came through. He had to reconsider after a harsh push from one of their teammates.

“Is he gonna go cry into his pillow? Diaz is gonna be really hungry after all that damage control, Cap,” Martinez jeered and Eddie couldn’t stop his knuckles from whitening as he balled his hands into fists.

“How about the next time anybody in this room has anything to say about his intelligence or that fucking lawsuit you come say it to me instead? You wanna see somebody crying into their pillow, keep talking, Martinez,” Eddie basically threatened while he stepped toward Martinez until he put his hands up in surrender.

“Okay, okay! Dually noted,” Martinez told him disingenuously as Bobby turned away from the stove to determine whether or not he should intervene.

Eddie let himself exhale the anger as he tread carefully a few minutes behind until he stopped at the same room that they’d chosen to occupy at the start of shift. Buck had settled into the mattress with his long legs folded toward his chest and his back facing the entrance. He didn’t say anything or move when Eddie drew the covers back crawled in next to him. Eddie scooped him up as the little spoon he usually was and began to kiss the nape of Buck’s neck gently as he squirmed with agitation in his hold.

“How ya doin’?” Eddie asked him as he snuggled into their perfect fit and Buck sighed.

“I’m fine,” he said but it sounded hollow and Eddie knew he was withholding.

Typically, Buck was the bubbly positive half that made up their whole. He balanced Eddie’s more serious and brooding nature well because it wasn’t common that he have bad moods or get irritated the way Eddie sometimes tended to. Between the two of them, his new boyfriend was usually more open and honest with his feelings than his older counterpart and if something weighed on him he would get himself to talk about it right away rather than let it sit. Eddie more preferred to bottle his feelings and remain stone-faced and in control at all times, but he’d been trying to get himself in check with Buck’s help. Now Eddie wanted to do the same for the one he loved. He could feel his blood coursing through their touch and he nudged him over onto his back so they could see one another.

“Are you still upset about what they said to you up there?” Eddie guessed, and like a child being coaxed to cop to the truth by a parent Buck rolled his eyes and huffed his annoyance as he turned away.

“Buck,” Eddie began as he held him in place with his body weight while Buck tried to pull himself free. “They were just messing around. They went a little too hard, but don’t let that get to you. They don’t mean it,” he reassured him as he pressed a soft kiss to the permanently blushed skin that decorated Buck’s eyebrow.

“But they do! They act like I'm stupid because they think it’s true, and they think that because _it is_ true,” Buck muttered with defeat. “And they all still hate me because of that lawsuit- I should’ve just let Bobby transfer me out when he wanted to.”

“It is _not_ true, Buck, nobody actually believes that! They’re just razzing you. Besides, if you’d transferred out, we never would’ve became us, okay? Just ignore them-”

“You don’t understand. I can’t ignore it when they call me out like that, Eddie. I mean, I am pretty dumb, right? Like, I know that- I’ve _always_ known that. I make the wrong choices and trust the wrong people and say stupid shit, and don’t know a lot of things. I just don’t like to think about any of that so I hate it when other people bring it up. And I hate that other people know about it- but of course they do! They’re all smarter than me.” Buck retreated into his solitary sulking position and Eddie grew aggravated with everyone else’s insensitivity while he laid beside him, unsure of how to fix this one by himself.

“Just because some people are smarter in a different way doesn’t mean you aren’t smart at all, Buck. You can’t doubt yourself because of some thoughtless jokes. You know what to do better than Bobby does sometimes!” Eddie told him factually, calling on memory of multiple occasions where Buck’s quick thinking had trumped their Captain’s judgment and ended up saving the day.

“I can’t even read a piece of paper,” Buck spat out bitterly.

“Those papers weren’t exactly ‘leisurely perusing’ type papers. I had a hard time sometimes, too,” Eddie truthfully admitted.

“I doubt it,” Buck snapped.

“Evan,” said Eddie sternly before a bridge in the conversation distanced them. The static between them raised the tension in the air until Buck took a breath in.

“You don’t get it,” Buck repeated in such a small voice that Eddie actually felt his soul ache.

“Then talk to me, mi amor. Help me to understand,” Eddie cooed as he swept Buck to his chest without him putting up more of a fight.

“If I tell you something, you promise not to tell anyone?” Buck asked him with worry in his voice.

Eddie furrowed his brows but nodded without hesitation, somewhat on guard for what he was going to say. “Te lo prometo,” he affirmed against Buck’s back.

“Don’t laugh, okay?” Buck gave one last instruction before he took a deep breath.

“I have dyslexia. Sometimes when people give me shit, it makes me feel like I’m a kid all over again and I get super insecure and it’s really embarrassing,” Buck confessed begrudgingly.

Eddie couldn’t help the disbelieving scoff that hissed between his teeth. “But you read all the time,” he argued.

“Yeah, on the internet, and some books that Chris could probably get through. They were all right. There _were_ too many big words and words I don’t normally read. It was too hard for me to get through it, so I just didn’t. I just signed everywhere it told me to sign, and next time I get hurt, I’ll just fuck off like I should’ve last time.”

“First of all, you’re not gonna get hurt again. But secondly, the fact that you sometimes have a little trouble when you read has absolutely nothing to do with your intelligence, Buck.” Eddie cuddled his face into his favorite spot between his shoulder blades as Buck burrowed his own into the pillow with shame.

“I almost got held back in high school, I dropped out of college, it made it hard for me to do regular jobs, and even as a grown man, I still wanna cry when people make fun of me for it.”

“But nobody’s making fun of you because of that, they don’t even know about it,” Eddie tried to say rationally without sounding condescending.

“No, but they know that I’m stupid, and they still like to give me shit about _that_ ,” Buck pointed out and Eddie shook his head in protest.

“Buck! My Netflix is nothing but documentaries because of you! And some of it is, like, about psychology or space or crazy science theories and shit I can’t even understand half the time, but that’s all you ever watch! You know so many ridiculous random facts that I can literally throw out _any_ topic and you probably know at least a little something about it- did you know Christopher went from a C+ to an A- in math after you started helping him with his homework? His teacher was asking me where I was having him tutored!” Eddie divulged.

“I can’t even tell you how many of my roommates sold weed, Eddie, I learned all about fractions. And you know what stoners do? They sit around and they smoke and they watch fucking Ancient Aliens all the time!” Buck said stubbornly. “I found it interesting. That doesn’t mean anything.”

“But it does! It may be a little harder for you to read, but it’s not hard for you to learn. Whenever you come across something new that interests you, you start studying it right away! You’re so curious and your face lights up ‘cause you get all excited and you wanna talk about it and teach others about it. That’s actually one of my favorite things about you, Buck. You know how much that helps you connect with Christopher?” Eddie remarked fondly as he reminisced on how incredible Buck had been with Chris pretty much since they’d met each other.

“I would say it’s because we’re on the same level, but I don’t want to insult him like that,” Buck pouted.

Eddie sighed before he closed his eyes as he breathed him in. “Babe, listen to me. You rely on your empathy a lot of the time and that makes you act before you think, and then you have to live with the consequences. You want everyone else in your life to be happy so bad that sometimes you let yourself suffer in order to ease their pain. You look at life with such pure trust, sometimes you don’t see the ugliness that’s there until it’s slapping you in the face.

Maybe when those things blow up on you, it makes you feel like you’re dumb because you made a dumb move- but everyone does that! That’s life. Some arbitrary and completely minor flaw like having trouble sometimes when you read doesn’t have anything to do with who you are. And none of those things make you stupid, querido, they make you human. And I love all of that about you because it makes you fearless, and passionate, and brave enough to feel things with your whole heart every day no matter what. You have so much depth and emotion, Buck. I wish you could see what I see when I look at you.”

Buck didn’t say anything. He only rolled over just long enough for the tears on his face to shine underneath the light and tucked himself into Eddie’s pecs. He slipped beneath the trunk of his body and settled his love into his arms. Eddie didn’t hesitate to pepper sweet stamps against his straightened curls. The heat of his body had always been so soothing to the colder, less sensitive man. Eddie always felt like he was standing in the sunlight when he was near him. Buck seemed to melt like butter in his hold as he relaxed immediately. The adrenaline surge that Eddie could so clearly feel before had dissipated and his Buck was serene again. Eddie rubbed small circles into his muscles and he hummed a generous thank you against the fabric of his uniform dress shirt. The room seemed to fall away around them as Eddie took in the smell of Buck’s cologne and his natural chemistry while they lulled in secure bliss.

Secretly, Eddie loved these little moments where everything was gone except the two of them and he could focus solely on the heartbeat that was made for him while he counted his blessings to the rhythm. Christopher had been so grateful to have Buck in his life that it had shown in every aspect of it as his grades improved, his interests expanded, and his abilities flourished when Buck was patient enough to nurture every one. He had time to think about all of that and be grateful for the peace it had brought when they were just able to be alone together.

“You’d let me be the father of our second kid even if it means it might come out like me?” Buck murmured quietly.

Eddie’s pulse halted at the statement and the thought. They’d briefly talked about Buck’s dream of becoming a father and Eddie’s desire to have more children. But that conversation had happened ages ago when they were still just friends. They had only been dating officially for a few months and though it had always been assumed by Eddie, Buck had never referred to Christopher as “their” child. He had always been “my partner’s son”, and it strangled his breath to hear it put the other way.

“That would make me the luckiest man alive, cariño. They’d be intuitive, and creative, and adventurous, and full of love... Your golden blonde curls, big blue eyes, and those chubby chipmunk cheeks you had when you were a baby. Maybe a cute little birthmark if we’re lucky.” Buck chuckled against his will as Eddie pet him lovingly.

The notion overwhelmed him more than he’d expected it could. “You’d make the most beautiful babies, Evan,” Eddie almost wept while he fantasized about the day it may actually come to be. “Chris and I both want a girl… ” he trailed off as he realized that the idea had thoroughly taken over and was beginning to set up in his mind rent free.

“So you’re saying you’d be open to that… with me?” Buck hummed.

“Well, I’ve already got one with you,” Eddie giggled. “I’d love another one.” Eddie picked his chin up and swiped at the drying tracks running down Buck’s cheeks.

“Me, too,” Buck whispered.

“How about we start trying tonight?” Eddie joked as he started to tickle Buck’s ribs. He was beyond grateful when it produced a genuine laugh.

“I don’t think you know how that works,” Buck teased.

“No? You wanna show me?” Eddie proposed against Buck’s mouth and they melted into a playful embrace.

They lapped at each other with lazy enthusiasm, close because of the limited space on the full size mattress the firehouse offered before Eddie broke them apart.

“But I do mean it. Like, for real… maybe after dinner we can come back down here and look it up together?” he wondered with hesitant shyness despite the fact that they’d just talked about how much it meant to them both.

“Will you read it to me?” Buck asked timidly.

“I can do that.” Eddie hugged Buck close to him for a few minutes more before the smell of dinner from the kitchen started to make itself present in the room. “You wanna go back up and see what Bobby’s making?”

Buck shook his head against Eddie’s body and buried himself again. “I don’t wanna go up yet. I’m just gonna stay here, is that okay?”

“You don’t need anyone's permission to do what you need to do, mi amor. Take as much time as you have to. Want me to bring your plate down here?”

“No… I’ll get over it. I just wanna hang out in the dark for a second,” Buck admitted. Eddie pressed one more loving peck against his lips before he got up from the bed. “I love you.”

“I love you, too."

“Thanks for not laughing at me,” Buck said as Eddie prepared to venture into the hallway and looked back at him the way he always did when he had to leave him behind.

“Thanks for trusting me enough to tell me. It’s a good thing we got such a strong team going on here, we’re gonna need it pretty soon.” Eddie grinned at him as he closed the door.


End file.
